Haleiwa, Oahu, HAWAII – (Wednesday, November 15, 2000) ¿ World championelect Sunny Garcia looked nothing short of the best surfer on the planettoday as he overcame a frothing 6-8 foot swell at Haleiwa in round two ofthe G-Shock Hawaiian Pro today. After 16 years on tour, Garcia was finallyable to take to the waves of the North Shore as world champion, and he didnot disappoint.

[IMAGE 1]”Experience is definitely the advantage you need to win heats here,” saidGarcia, 30. “I’ve been surfing here all my life and it paid off today.Haleiwa1s a hard wave but you just have to be patient and pick and choose.

“Since my move to Kauai early this year, things have been going great. I’vebeen able to surf a lot with guys like Bruce and Andy Irons and I’m feelingreally comfortable with my surfing. For the first time in my life I’veachieved what I wanted (the world title) and a Vans Triple Crown title isabout all I need to cap off a great season.”

Garcia is a four-time Vans G-Shock Triple Crown champion. If he can againprove himself this winter to be the most consistently high performingsurferthroughout the Vans Triple Crown series of events, he will become the firstsurfer in history to win five titles.

Australia’s Paul Paterson won plenty of support for his performance today,putting on a great tube-riding display on several critical rides. Patersonearned himself a solid reputation back in 1997 when he charged his waythrough the rounds to win the Rip Curl Cup at Sunset Beach.

[IMAGE 2]With the waves looming well overhead today, Paterson emerged as one of themost fearless competitors. His performance was even more impressive afterherevealed he had been surfing with an unhealed broken collarbone.

Definitely an “Aussie battler”, Peterson could barely move his right arm bythe conclusion of his heat, but headed straight for the athlete1s sportstherapy station to prepare for his appearance in the next round.

“It’s pretty sore actually,” Paterson said. “But I1m just happy to be heresurfing. It1s summer in Australia now so this is definitely the place togetthe big waves.”

Competition started this morning with the remaining round two heats heldover from yesterday, and pushed through to heat 11 of the third round.Conditions look good for competition to continue tomorrow, and it ispossible that the Bear Hawaiian Pro Longboard Invitational and the women1sG-Shock Hawaiian Pro will take to the water.

The G-Shock Hawaiian Pro is the first event of the 2000 Vans G-Shock TripleCrown men’s series. It is a 5-star Association of Surfing Professionals(ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) event and will count toward this year’sVans Triple Crown title. Running in conjunction with this event are thewomen1s G-Shock Hawaiian Pro and the Bear Hawaiian Pro LongboardInvitational. The complete waiting period for these events is November12-22.